We returned from our cruise with SS12 - now 13. It was a really great trip. SS said it was the best vacation he has ever been on. He was able to snorkel in the Bahamas, go on a full island tour, eat tons of good food, and buy several souvenirs. SS and DH decided to buy matching watches to remember the trip. SS was talkative, loving to DD, and overall fully engaged this vacation. SS turned 13 while on the ship, so we had the room decorated and I brought huge "13" foil balloons to set out. SS loved it. 

There were no issues with pick-up, SS left his cell phone at BM's house and BM willingly gave DH SS' passport. She did highlight to DH that under "signature of bearer" on SS' passport, while SS' name was written, her signature was next to it and "Mother" written out. BM told DH that she felt the need to do that since she is sole custodial parent and that needs to be clear. DH just chuckled and basically told her "whatever floats her boat" since that makes no flipping difference on SS' passport, no official can tell she is "sole custodial parent" based on her signature, and only SS' name should have been signed as "bearer." DH left all of SS' stuff at our home so there was no risk of bringing along undesired tracking devices. 

BM and GF called SS on his birthday, but due to connectivity issues on the ship, it turned into a 5 minute phone call. SS answered in one word answers and didn't give anything further, and you could tell the call was cold and uncomfortable. This week, BM and GF are out of town for GF's work. BM and GF also called last night, despite seeing SS tomorrow (because they are entitled to their 2 calls per week and will use them no matter what). They were at a bar with GF's coworkers and had stepped outside to call. Once BM and GF realized that SS was in the car with multiple people and they couldn't successfully interrogate SS, they told SS it was too cold outside and they didn't want to do this anymore, hanging up the call. SS didn't seem bothered and went about the remainder of our vacation without issue. We fly home today. 

SS gets picked up tomorrow and while the vacation was great, I am ready to return to life as normal for a while. We have approximately 2ish months until SS returns for some sort of summer visitation. We have been prepping DD3 that brother is leaving tomorrow, but we know she will still struggle a lot with his absence.